Meaningful Movement

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Dance

Dance isn't merely entertainment, but a soulful, skillful experience for student-artists and audiences alike.

Dance concerts often showcase contemporary movement, but as part of the curriculum, students also learn traditional styles. Here, upper schoolers channeled that knowledge to choreograph and perform this fun, kitschy, roaring-twenties tribute—a crowd-pleasing video intro for Rowland Hall's 2017 auction, the Great Gala.

Whether taking a dance class or becoming fully immersed in the choreographic, rehearsal, performance, and social aspects of our Ensemble program, aspiring and accomplished dancers find our program inspirational and deeply involving.

Professional dancer Sofia Cutrubus and her team direct and choreograph middle and upper schoolers across the full gamut of styles—from modern dance to musical theater, and from jazz improvisation to contemporary ballet. Every year, the program showcases student works in an annual concert that energizes our school community.

Programming

Rowland Hall offers a diverse range of dance classes for middle and upper schoolers that engage first-time movers to seasoned student-artists.

Middle schoolers get to know our program through the introductory courses, street dance and movement lab, while our eighth-grade ensemble offers older students an in-depth study of contemporary dance.

In the Upper School, dancers are placed in ensembles from beginning to advanced dance. Program-wide, students are encouraged to reach across course levels and age groups to learn from one another. Dance, after all, is a collaborative and community-focused art practice.

Sophia Cutrubus ’18
Dance Teacherget to know sophia

Grace Riter ’18
Dance Teacherget to know Grace

Middle School

Middle schoolers work toward efficiency in movement through classical training methods such as ballet, jazz, and modern dance, as well as parkour, break dance, hip hop, martial arts, improvisation, and composition. The goal is to develop the body as a tool for physicality, individual voice, technical skill for dance as an art form, and the ability to work collaboratively, negotiate the creative process, and perform.

Middle School electives

Upper School

As students develop as dancers, so does the depth of the curriculum. In the Upper School, emphasis is placed on both proficiency and fluidity in a variety of traditional and contemporary styles. Every spring, senior dancers present a concert as the culmination of their Rowland Hall dance careers.

Upper School Curriculum

Dance Stories in Fine Print Magazine

You Belong at Rowland Hall